In Russia, NTI engineers have developed the Begalet-Mirage drone, which is capable of vertical takeoff and landing. According to the press service of the organization, the UAV has a flight duration of up to 12 hours and a flight altitude of up to 8,000 meters.
“Such a development is in demand on the market today for various tasks. First of all, as a communication signal repeater. For example, during emergencies such as floods. Also for monitoring forest fires or a gas pipeline and other national economic tasks,” said Alexander Begak, CEO of the company, to RIA Novosti.
The duration of the flight of the drone is two hours – during this time it can fly about 350 km. It is expected that the UAV will be presented in a hybrid version: so it will be able to combine both an electric motor and a gasoline one. Thanks to the work of two engines, the flight time can increase by eight or even 10 hours, Begak noted.
“The device has a non-classical aerodynamic scheme developed by us, it is able to take off from any platform unprepared for these purposes, I think even from the deck of a ship. At the same time, it is not a tiltrotor,” said the CEO of the company.
The drone will be introduced to the market in the summer of 2023. At the moment, several test flights have been made.
Earlier, on April 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the industry of unmanned aerial vehicles a promising industry. He also pointed to the need to develop the unmanned aircraft industry. According to Putin, the field of unmanned aerial systems will help bring about structural changes.
In addition, the President announced the need for the Federal Air Transport Agency to digitalize air traffic in order to seamlessly integrate unmanned aerial vehicles into the structure. Compliance with security measures should not hinder the development of the unmanned sphere, Putin added.